AN: Updating a day early because I won't be around tomorrow. You can check my profile to always know exactly when things are getting released! Thanks y'all, and enjoy the early chapter.

Her ramen sat untouched in front of her, more and more of its warmth slipping away into the cool night air with every passing minute. Naruto was like a vacuum, already devouring his third bowl, slurping loudly on her right side. To her left, Sakura slowly and carefully ate from her first.

It was all Shizune could do to stare blankly at her meal as she thought about how it had even come to this.

This was the Temporary Team 7's first official meal together, and Naruto had absolutely insisted they go to Ichiraku's for the occasion, practically dragging both her and Sakura by the arms until they relented.

And now, sat in the restaurant, listlessly watching the two of them eat and listening to the easy, energetic banter between them, Shizune was struck by one thought in particular.

'I...have no idea how to lead a team.'

That was bad enough on its own for an assignment like this, but the fact that it was Team 7 she was starting with just made it all that much more daunting a task.

Infamous for being difficult to deal with. Always getting into some sort of mess. And Shizune knew Naruto personally, so she'd seen first hand how much trouble the members of Team 7 could get into.

Yes...Team 7. Team 7, which Kakashi should be leading, but can't because he's so careless he ends up in the hospital from a D rank mission. Team 7, consisting of the kind, smart, polite girl that is Sakura, and the loud, fun, mildly overwhelming boy that is Naruto.

Team 7, which she was now in charge of for the foreseeable future.

This...was not what she had been expecting.

(Previously, in the Hokage's Office)

"Naruto. Sakura. Your sensei until Kakashi is out of recovery will be…Shizune."

"...eh?"

The room was deathly still, silence practically smothering her save for Tsunade's smug chuckling and the squeaks drawn out from the lazy swivels of her chair.

"...what? Wait, what!?"

She was the first to speak after Tsunade's sudden bout of what must have been early onset dementia. From the looks of it, the information she'd put forward hadn't even entirely registered in the children's heads just yet. Truth be told, it had barely registered in hers.

"What, wh-, what!? What do you mean me!?"

Tsunade simply leaned back further, contentedly breathing out before reiterating.

"You, Shizune, will be leading Team 7 in Kakashi's absence."

A simple touch could knock her over with how rigid she stood. Her expression likely conveyed nothing but dumb shock, though it was hardly an inaccurate portrayal of what she was currently feeling.

"What do you mean I'm leading Team 7!? I can't, wh-, I can't-"

"Shizune-nee-san is our sensei…?"

Naruto spoke from behind her, and she whirled around to face him, fully ready to explain that there was some mistake, that it was a joke, or-

"That's AWESOME!"

"...what!?"

Sakura was looking up at her, watching her silently while her teammate turned to nudge her on the shoulder, starting to explain his excitement about their new teacher. Or rather, to start singing Shizune's praises better than any hype man ever could.

"I've seen her fight she's so cool!" quickly turned to "she's so super smart and awesome!", and generally bouncing between anything and everything about her before reaffirming how 'so super amazing' she is.

And Sakura...all while Naruto was talking, her eyes never left Shizune, staring up in avid wonder. Shizune didn't have to look very hard to see the stars swimming in her eyes.

Forcing herself back into motion, she whipped back around to face the Hokage.

"L-lady Tsunade, you really need to explain to them that it's a joke now, they're getting-"

"No joke."

The simple declaration sliced through any argument she could offer, leaving her floundering for a response as Tsunade swiveled her chair from side to side without a worry.

"...wh-...but-!"

"No joke. You're Team 7's new leader."

The seconds ticked by as she tried to piece together any possible reasoning for this. Wracking her brain, she could think of absolutely nothing, and it was surprisingly hard to focus with Naruto behind her, building her up higher and higher with every passing second.

Gathering what social decorum she could, Shizune clapped her hands together in front of her, and turned to the children with a bright smile.

"Naruto? Sakura?"

The two blinked out of their individual trances, giving her their attention.

"Could you two go outside for just a minute? I need to talk to Lady Tsunade about something in private, just for a moment."

Both of them looked a bit surprised, and Naruto was quick to try to protest.

"Whaaat? But-"

"Out now, just a bit!"

Shizune shood them back, opening the office door and lightly pushing them out while Naruto complained. She closed the door with a parting reminder that she'll be "very quick, it won't take long at all", and the large door clicked into place. A single beat of silence passed before-

"WHAT!?"

She'd practically blinked to the Hokage's desk, hands slapped down firmly on the wood, causing a few papers to fly up as it shook.

"What do you MEAN!?"

Tsunade was chuckling, on the verge of breaking out into a full laugh.

"Honestly, It's a very simple thing. You'll be-"

"I know what it means, I mean- What- why!? Lady Tsunade, need I remind you I have a job? Here? As your assistant!?"

Tsunade's composure was unbreakable; she'd absolutely expected Shizune to complain, or have questions, waving a hand placatingly.

"All well and handled. I'll be fine."

"Wh-..."

Picturing Tsunade working as Hokage without her was almost impossible. The amount of times Shizune had to keep her on task and working until everything was done was already nearing uncountable.

"Do you, do you have someone else for the time being? Someone-"

"Nope."

Shizune's face went slack with shock. There had to be something she was missing about this. Even Tsunade, stubborn as she was, had to know that the amount of work Shizune took on for the Hokage was incredibly high. Tsunade could barely operate with what she had already; adding her own workload to it would be- it- it would be-

"That's insane!"

There were questions here that needed answering.

"Wh-...why? I don't- Why are you giving me this assignment…?"

That smug grin of Tsunade's returned, like she knew something Shizune didn't. Odds are, that was the case right now.

"Well...I may as well explain."

She slowly swiveled her chair to the side, idly looking out the window as she began to explain.

"You see, ever since I took this office, my advisors have been harping on me to get more and more work done."

That was...true. Homura and Koharu has been pushing more and more work on her, but what did that have to do with Shizune leading Team 7…? Tsunade's face turned a bit glum, and just a tad annoyed, like she was about to complain about something. She sighed out a deep breath, tapping her fingers against her chair.

"They've been on my case since day one, you know!? 'Lady Tsunade, you can't do this', 'Lady Tsunade, you should be doing that right now', blah, blah, blah blah blahhh…"

Tsunade's fingers curled into a fist, and she grunted as she continued.

"And you know what they've been saying lately!?"

Shizune just watched, unsure what to say. Her lack of response prompted her mentor to continue, huffing out in frustration.

"They said, 'The only reason you're a functional Hokage, is because of that girl you have helping you.'"

What? They'd complained about Shizune's assistance? Or- no, that was somewhat inaccurate. They were complaining about Lady Tsunade's...lack of competence. That she wouldn't be able to do the work at all if Shizune wasn't helping her. So…

"So your solution was to...pass me off?"

Tsunade's displeased expression had its smile returned, and she turned back to Shizune, nearly beaming.

"Just for a bit! You see, we ended up in a bit of a confrontation over that remark. And in the end, they bet that I couldn't even go a month without your help."

Oh no. Oh, no. They made a bet with her. To be more accurate, they played her like a fiddle. There was no way Tsunade would turn down a bet, especially not one her pride deluded herself into thinking she could win.

"...a month. So, wait-! This assignment-"

"Was a very lucky coincidence! See? Bet's off to a good start already!"

Tsunade's blithe explanation of everything was utterly ridiculous. Did she actually convince herself this was a perfectly fine idea? That just reassigning her for a bit would actually let her do this without trouble?

"You had me reassigned...because of a bet?"

"Yes."

The indifference with which she said that was infuriating.

"That's...that's stupid!"

Once more, Tsunade's hand waved in front of her, as if waving away all her troubles with the flick of a wrist.

"I know it is. But it doesn't matter! I can handle it."

"C-...can you?"

"Of course! I'll be fine."

"...will you!?"

Shizune was worried. Astoundingly worried. What if this was a ploy by the council, and Tsunade's hubris had blinded her? What if they wanted to publicly embarrass Tsunade, using her distaste for paperwork? What if-

"On that note, I actually have another order for you."

Snapping out of her worries, she looked up to face her mentor.

"For the next thirty days, starting after you leave this room, you are to ignore everything I say."

...wh-...

"What!?"

What in Kami's name did that even mean? She was...completely overwhelmed right now. All of her emotions had been built up, torn down, inflated and deflated so many times in the past couple minutes. How did this even happen? How did she get caught up in this...stupid bet? Reassigned to a team? How did any of this even happen without someone realizing how utterly ridiculous it was!?

"This order will supercede anything else I tell you until the thirty days are up. No matter what I say after today, you are to put all of your focus into your assignment regarding Team 7 for the next month. If I say anything to you, you will ignore me. If I beg you for your help, you will not help me. Understood?"

So that was her solution. Literally force herself to go without Shizune's help. That...was…

"So...incredibly stupid…"

Tsunade chuckled mirthfully, like she was some sort of strategic genius who'd come up with a war winning plan.

"That will be all. You're dismissed! I believe you have a team waiting for you, and I,"

She made a show of flexing her fingers, picking her pen back up and tapping the point against a stack of papers on her desk.

"Have some work to do."

She didn't have the energy to deal with this anymore. She couldn't even bring herself to bow, or offer a word of acknowledgement. Eventually, she just backed away and slowly stepped towards the door, opening it with a soft creak to be met with Naruto's voice, chatting animatedly with Sakura while he waited. Lightly stepping out of the office, Shizune closed the door with a dull click, and Naruto cut himself off as he noticed her.

"Finally!"

He jumped up away from the wall with a wide smile, Sakura looking up at her admiringly, like she was some hero of a kunoichi.

"You're done, right Shizune-nee-san!?"

"Uh...y-...yeah…"

There didn't seem to be any way out of this, and she was still having trouble processing what had exactly transpired in the past ten minutes. Thus, she truly didn't have it in her to put up any resistance when naruto grabbed her hand, happily pulling her down the hallway while shouting about a "team dinner", Sakura following happily to her side, ready to ask question after question about their new team assignment at the first chance she'd get.

And now...here she was. Still in shock, with a genin team- her team, sat next to her, happily scarfing down ramen.

She was a jonin sensei. Never before had she considered that a possibility in her life. And suddenly it was true, thanks to her own sensei taking a...a terrible, stupid, idiotic bet.

"Um, Shizune-san?"

For the first time since she left the Hokage's office, Shizune's attention snapped into focus.

"Ah...yes, Sakura?"

The girl looked pensive, fiddling with her chopsticks and looking down at the counter rather than meeting Shizune's eyes.

"So...what, um, what will we be doing from now on? As- as a team?"

"That's um...a good question. I wasn't really expecting this assignment, so I don't have anything, uh...prepared."

Leaning back, she combed through everything she knew about team leadership. It was undoubtedly a complex and structured thing to do, but did it have to be difficult? She'd told them they'd get someone more of a placeholder than a real teacher to watch them until Kakashi recovered, but that was before she had any idea she would be that replacement.

"Well...let's start with, um...What does Kakashi normally have you doing?"

Naruto finished slurping his bowl and let out a grunt.

"Not much...Normally he shows us something, and then leaves until we figure out how to do it."

"That...doesn't sound overly helpful."

"You're tellin me!"

Naruto held his bowl out, asking Teuchi for another round, and Sakura cleared her throat from behind her, grabbing Shizune's attention once more.

"Um, that is normally the case. He'll show us techniques, and let us figure them out on our own, though sometimes we also have practice exercises, or teamwork training. If we have a mission soon, he tends to give us some advice on what's going to be happening in the mission beforehand. That's what our training normally consists of."

So Kakashi was a lazy teacher. Let his students do most of the work, and just provide the guideline. That sounded more than fitting with his personality. Naruto, receiving his fourth bowl of food, grumbled mostly to himself.

"Are we even gonna train now?"

CLACK. Shizune's hands slapped harsh against the countertop, making Naruto jump and spilling a bit of his ramen broth as the whole structure rattled, her eyes firmly locking on him with a piercing glare.

"Of course we're going to train!"

Naruto looked a mixture of ecstatic, frightened, and horribly confused, hands keeping his bowl still.

"But, but you said-!"

"I know what I said! But I said that before you got me!"

Yeah...If Tsunade wanted her to do this assignment...well, who was she to argue? If Tsunade wanted to flounder around with some lousy bet, and literally force Shizune to ignore her, then Shizune would do just that! There were two children here in need of a sensei, and she had been given the task of teaching them. So teach them she would.

"Yeah…yeah! Tomorrow, this team will meet at eight in the morning at your usual training ground! We've got some things to work out about this, and then we're going to begin what will be your standard training regiment for the next month!"

Somewhere along her exclamation, she'd stood up from her stool, and the kids were looking up at her in wonder. Naruto...seemed absolutely ecstatic, like he was about to jump and cheer about training. Sakura looked like she was on the verge of happy tears. Kakashi's style of teaching probably never truly resonated with her.

Suddenly, she was struck by more than a little determination not to let these two down. She was their instructor from here on out. And right now? She had a training regiment to design!

Starting to turn to charge back to her home, training program already forming in her head, she was interrupted by a harsh cough from behind the counter. Teuchi.

Right. She'd design the team's new training regiment right after she paid the bill.

AN: Hoorah! Team antics to come! These three are adorable together.

Updates will be returning to Saturdays from here on out, and I'll see y'all next week! Have a good one!